The journalist from the L’Équipe channel, who interviewed Laurent Blanc after the debacle against Montpellier (1-4), returned to the technician’s bloodshed.
It’s a statement that had the effect of a small bomb, at the heart of a very turbulent weekend for Olympique Lyonnais. After a humiliating defeat against Montpellier on Saturday (1-4), the Rhone club coach was simply asked about ” what needed to be changed to raise the bar. And his response rocketed.
“Change Coach”he dropped at the microphone of the journalist from Prime Video, Virginie Sainsily. “You ask me what to do, I say maybe change the coach. At some point, I will moderate your remarks (the journalist had described OL as a talented workforce, editor’s note). If we have a quality workforce, today that of Montpellier is of very, very high quality”.
Why Blanc made this tongue-in-cheek response
It did not take more to revive speculation around the future of Laurent Blanc. Recruited under the Aulas era, Blanc was not chosen by the new boss of OL, John Textor. And this heavy context comes on top of a transfer window carried out under high tension, the club having been rejected by the DNCG while having to part with certain important players, like the young Castello Lukeba (sold to RB Leipzig), who will perhaps be followed by Bradley Barcola (announced at PSG).
Present on the set of L’Équipe du Soir this Monday, Virginie Sainsily wanted to provide some details to recontextualize the exchange. The journalist confirmed the ironic nature of Laurent Blanc’s statement, specifying that in the current context of OL, the latter had simply ” felt stung by the question. However, this is not the first time that Laurent Blanc has used this tone to address our colleagues. Sometimes detached, disconcerted, often disconcerting, the 1998 world champion is not a fan of the media exercise. And he never hesitates to mention it, in a press conference or in a post-match interview. But in this case, his irony may be overtaken by reality.
